Deciphering the “Reserve” Label on Your Wine Bottle

While attempting to score wine deals at Costco or elsewhere, you may have noticed the term “reserve” on some wine labels. This designation often implies that the wine was aged specifically before being made available for sale. Traditionally, winemakers reserve a portion of exceptional wine batches for further maturation. This practice of holding back a reserve portion of a given wine batch gives birth to the term “reserve” on modern wine bottles.

Although “reserve” suggests high quality, it does not automatically mean the wine is superior. In specific regions of major wine-producing countries, such as Italy and Spain, the label is legally regulated and is used only for wines grown, aged, and stored as per certain rules. However, in most parts of the world, including the United States, there isn’t a legal definition for the term “reserve,” hence it can represent any wine, regardless of aging specifications.

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In Italy, reserve or riserva wines must meet particular aging and storage prerequisites that differ by region. For instance, a Chianti can only be labelled and sold as a riserva if it has undergone at least 24 months of aging, which includes a minimum of 3 months of bottle fining, as per the Italian vineyard Carus.

The period of aging begins on January 1 following the harvest. Similar strict requirements are also utilized to assess all other Italian wines pursuing the riserva label. Meeting the minimum standards is just the beginning, the wine must subsequently align with specific characteristics including color and acidity. These precise regulations ensure that the region exports a standard, high-quality product worldwide.

Comparable systems are present in Spain and Portugal, where specialty wine is labeled reserva (which differs from Italy’s riserva). Like Italy, these countries segment their wine-growing zones into regions with precise requirements which determine which wines can legally adopt the reserva label. Beyond storage and aging criteria, Portugal also regulates the alcohol percentage levels in its reserva bottles. According to an article in the Robb Report by wine experts Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen, reserva wines in Portugal must contain an additional 0.5% to 1% more alcohol per bottle in comparison to the established minimums for their regions.

Outside these regulated regions, the term reserve lacks a clear definition and could mean a number of things or even nothing at all. In the United States, wine is regulated by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TBB) which currently does not have a definition for reserve. In 2010, the TBB made a proposal to legally define a variety of winemaking terms, but the new rules were never implemented, and the term reserve continues to be used without any legal definition.

In the absence of any definitive ruling from the federal government, some regions have established their own quality requirements. At the turn of the century, winemakers in Washington formed the Washington Wine Quality Alliance, with its own standards for reserve labels. As per a report by the Wine Spectator at that time, members of the alliance agreed to keep their reserve batches to 10% or less of the overall production. However, outside of Washington, vineyards in the United States still promote certain bottles with the reserve label. But, since there’s no uniform agreement on what exactly constitutes a reserve bottle, it is often utilized as a simple marketing tool with no legal implications.

Read the original article on Daily Meal.

About the Author: Chris Lehoux

Meet Chris Lehoux, an experienced wine connoisseur and dedicated blogger with a deep passion for all things wine-related. With years of expertise in the industry, Chris shares insightful wine reviews, valuable wine tasting tips, expert pairing advice, and captivating tales of vineyard visits. Join Chris on a journey through the world of wine, where every sip is an adventure waiting to be savored!